Stellantis inaugurates the first gigafactory in France: «European Champion in Electric Batteries»

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In Dufresne, in northeastern France, the first European giant factory for the production of batteries for electric cars has opened. The plant starts with an annual production of 13.4 GWh and by 2030 it will produce 40 GWh annually. The site spans 34 hectares and will be divided into three blocks and the first starts today. By 2030, it is expected to employ about 2,000 people.

“Here we are in the future.” So John Elkann, president of Stellantis, on the sidelines of the opening of the plant built by Acc, the joint venture of Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies in Dufresne, northeastern France. “It’s a major European project,” Elkann added, referring to the fact that this is only the first of three giant plants Acc will build in Europe. The second is in Germany and the third is in Italy, in Termoli, with total investments of 7.3 billion euros, of which about 1.3 billion are in public investments.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Italian Minister of Trade and Industry, Adolfo Orso, the French Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, Agnes Pannier-Ronacher, the Minister of Energy Transition, Roland Lescure, the German Plenipotentiary Minister for Industry, and Volker Wessing, the Minister of Industry. transmit. The companies were attended by Yan Vincent, CEO of Acc, Ola Kallenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz, Patrick Pouyann, CEO of TotalEnergies, and Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, who arrived accompanied by President Elkann. The next step for Acc is the Kaiserslautern giant plant in Germany, which is scheduled to start production in 2025, and then the next step in Termoli, Italy, which is expected to start production in 2026. By 2030, all three giant plants will have an annual output of 40 GWh, for a total production of 120 gigawatt-hours, equivalent to about 2.5 million batteries that will power electric vehicles from Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz. Each factory is expected to employ around 2,000 people.

Termoli’s rating is currently around 1,800, which could rise to 2,000 when fully operational. “Batteries currently account for about 40% of the cost of an electric vehicle and most of it is made in Asia,” explained Yann Vincent, CEO of Acc, adding that Acc is the “answer” to many challenges, including “car control.” production chain and a return to true industrial sovereignty.

With the Acc gigafactory in France, “we are starting a new phase, which is the production of batteries. If we fall, if we have problems, we will rise. We have the ability to solve problems. ” Thus, Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, during the opening of the first battery production site in Europe from the joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies, spoke of the “Darwinian transition”, which is taking place in the automotive sector at the level Global which Stellantis aims to win with the battery project. Moreover, Tavares continued, with giga-companies such as Dufresne, “we will contribute to the European ambition to produce 23% of the world’s battery production,” noting that Stellantis’ plan to advance to 2030 “states on 75 new electric prototypes.